Picture on Granite

[Eric Seest]

Okay I am getting ready to try my first picture on granite. I have included the before and after so you can see what I am working with. I scanned the picture in gray scale, and then used the power clip tool in corel draw and this is what I came up with. Does anyone have any suggestions before I give it a try. I only have two pieces of granite and I need this for Friday; so I thought I would ask for suggestions first.

[Margaret Turco]

Hi Eric, I don't have enough experience with granite to know whether it will come out very well, but how big is this picture going to be?

[Tim Bateson]

Looks like a good image. Try testing a part of the image. What I'd do is move the image so only a small portion, in this case maybe the head is in the engravable area. Do a couple tests moving the image over a bit each time to test your settings.

Also insure you are testing on the same type of granite you will be using for the final run. Testing on HD granite, then doing a final run on absolute black, will likely not give you great results.

[Eric Seest]

Well I am still new at a lot of this and this would be one, I guess for starters I should be using the correct material. Marble not granite might get me going in the right direction. That said here is what I came up with (marble); not bad for my first try; hopefully my Father will enjoy it as a retirement present. I still have more to do I will be putting it in a plaque with a few more things; when I get it complete I will post the rest.

[John W. Love]

One of the things I have learned from Frank, Tim and so many others here is, to darken the picture before inverting and running it through photograve. Increase Contrast and decrease brightness. Then shrink the picture down (3"x2" or so) and run it through your photo processing software... ie photograv and use one piece of granite to burn it on. repeat this process till you get your settings just right. It was frustrating for me at first because there is no magic number to have your settings at when you are trying to manipulate the "colors" on the photo. But, slowly but surely we are learning to eyeball the picture and know what it should be. Tim really drove that home for us when we were having problems getting a picture of our son's wedding on granite. And with each passing project the picture looks better and better because of... PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. :p

[Eric Seest]

Well I got it finished; I think my father is going to like it. What do you think, any suggestions on future projects?

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Very nice and always rewarding work to recognize those that have dedicated their life to help others. I would try to eliminate the mirror clips and inlay the photo. They stand out too much to me.

[Dave Russell Smith]

That looks nice, I'm sure your father will like it a lot. Congrats too your father for all the years in the service putting his life on the line to save others